Which blocker is used to increase blood pressure?

[cooliegirl]

I have a pharm exam tommorow and would like some clarification on the above question, and also what can you tell me about these blockers.

Alpha1

Beta1

Beta2

Thank in advance

[lvnlrn]

I took Pharm last semester, and my teacher gave us a great handout to help keep the autonomic nervous system (ANS) drugs straight. i wish i could email it, but i'll try to summarize:

first of all, beta1 deals with the myocardium (easy to remember because you have 1 heart) and beta2 deals with smooth muscle elsewhere (like the lungs...you have 2 lungs). as for the alpha1 and alpha2, from what i remember, it has to do with where the receptors are in relation to the synapse of the neuron. alpha1 was postsynaptic, while alpha2 was presynaptic.

second, imagine a a square, with the first column being sympathetic and the second column being parasympathetic.

sympathetic: the first box will be A (adrenergic, encourages the sympathetic system. adrenergic sounds like adrenalin, which is what your sympathetic system pumps out...), the box below that will be B (Blocker, or adrenergic Blocker, which will depress the sympathetic system).

parasympathetic: then in the second column, the first box will be C (cholinergic, which encourages the parasympathetic system), and the last box will be D (cholinergic blockers, with the 3 D's of side effects: Drying, Decreased GI motility, and Dilated pupils because they're depressing the parasympathetic system.)

to clarify the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems:

sympathetic (fight or flight) you're sympathetic to someone being chased by a bear...

increased blood pressure, pulse, respirations, dilation of pupils and bronchioles of the lungs. so adrenergic drugs are going to invoke the fight or flight response with the above mentioned increased BP, pulse, etc. your side effects are going to be tachycardia, hypertension, etc.

parasympathetic (rest and digest) you rest and digest while eating a "pear"

lowered blood pressure, lower pulse, constriction of pupils, and more blood flow to the GI tract, so increased perestalsis. if it's an adrenergic blocker, it's going to block the adrenaline effect and cause a parasympathetic reaction.

the cholinergics are for the parasympathetic system. they'll increase secretions, peristalsis, reduce BP, cause pupil dilation, etc. so their side effects are going to be nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, bradycardia, and decreased respirations.

i hope this helps! good luck on your test!! =)

[hypocaffeinemia, BSN, RN]

Before you can know what agonists and antagonists do, you need to learn the role and function of the receptor site they are agonizing or antagonizing. Once you learn this, it's easy to figure the rest out.

To answer your question specifically, I don't know of any blocker (antagonist) that would raise blood pressure via antagonizing the three adrenergic receptor sites you've listed.

Sometimes, alpha-2 agonists are utilized in the treatment of hypertension (e.g., clonidine), but this is because alpha-2 receptors can have vastly different functions depending on bodily location-- clonidine acts in the brainstem, for instance (and its mechanism isn't entirely due to a2 agonism, either). I am unaware of any specific alpha-2 antagonists in order to increase blood pressure. Remeron, an anti-depressant, antagonizes alpha-2, for different reasons altogether.

Most therapies to increase blood pressure agonize alpha-1, alpha-2, and/or beta-1.